X-Word 5-Minute Mystery








THE LISTRESS
BY AMY WALLACE

Test your knowledge
of greater and lesser arcana
against Salon's Listress.

The first person to e-mail
us with the correct answers
will win a $25 gift
certificate from Borders
Books & Music.

[Famous Last Words]

1. These are the last lines of 10 famous novels. Identify the title and author.

1. "Yes," I said. "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

2. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

3. "Very good, sir," said Jeeves.

4. Catherine, meanwhile, in the parlor, picking up her morsel of fancy-work, had seated herself with it again -- for life, as it were.

5. John Thomas says good night to lady Jane, a little droopingly, but with a hopeful heart.

6. After all, tomorrow is another day.

7. Glory, as anyone knows, is bitter stuff.

8. At the edge of the Arab quarter the car, still loaded with people, made a wide U-turn and stopped; it was the end of the line.

9. Somebody threw a dead dog after him down the ravine.

10. And out again, upon the unplumb'd salt, estranging sea.

2. These are the first lines of 10 famous novels. Identify the title and author.

1. "Jeeves," I said, "may I speak frankly?"

2. For a long time, I used to go to bed early.

3. Call me Ishmael.

4. Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

5. Mother died today.

6. Robert Cohn was once middleweight boxing champion of Princeton.

7. Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

8. Howard Roark laughed.

9. "Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

10. It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love.

3. Which author used the following similies?

1. "dead as a pickled walnut"
2. "gaudy as a chiropractor's chart"
3. "as easy to spot as a kangaroo in a dinner jacket"
4. "all the originality and drive of a split fingernail"
5. "shorter than a bargain-counter shirt"


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May 16, 1997


The winner of the last Listress was Josh Kornbluth, who was the first to answer the following questions correctly:

1. Which one of the following people did not convert from Judaism to Christianity?

1. Bob Dylan
2. Boris Pasternak
3. Bobby Fischer
4. Eugene Ormandy
5. James Schlesinger
6. Tom Snyder

Answer: 6

2. Which one of the following people did not convert to Judaism?

1. Marilyn Monroe
2. Jim Croce
3. Sammy Davis Jr.
4. Mia Farrow
5. Elizabeth Taylor
6. Rod Carew

Answer: 4

3. What do the following actors all have in common?

1. Roger Moore
2. Harry Reems
3. George C. Scott
4. Peter Cook
5. Christopher Lee

A. They all did their own stunts in movies.
B. They all turned down roles that later won Oscars.
C. They all played Sherlock Holmes.

Answer: C


Amy Wallace is the co-author of many books, including "The People's Almanac," and the author of "The Prodigy," a biography, and "Desire," a novel. She lives in Los Angeles.

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